North Andover, Mass.
(October 2) -- Led by a 182-yard receiving effort
by senior transfer Greg Abelli (Billerica, Mass.),
Merrimack defeated Saint Anselm by a 52-14 final in Northeast-10
Conference football action on Saturday afternoon at Warrior Field.
The win is the second straight in the series by the Warriors, who
now lead the all-time matchup by an 8-4 margin.
Abelli opened the scoring for the Warriors in the first quarter,
pulling down a pass from junior quarterback James Suozzo
(Everett, Mass.) at the 50-yard line. Abelli tip toed
along the sideline, then cut all the way across the field for the
67-yard score. The Hawks answered right back with a 10-play,
69-yard drive of their own though and tied the game quickly at 7-7.
Set up by a 36-yard reception by senior Marcel Bouie (Stone
Mountain, Ga.), the Hawks capped the drive with a
seven-yard touchdown pass from Michael Pierce
(Andover, Mass.) to Marc Wilson
(Farmington, Conn.) thru traffic for the tying score.
Late in the opening period, the Hawks took the lead at 14-7 as
Wilson found junior tight end Justin
Alexander (Cohasset, Mass.) for a 15-yard scoring pass
across the middle, Wilson's first TD pass of the season.
From that point on, Abelli and the Merrimack offense got things
going and took advantage of a number of Saint Anselm turnovers to
push the lead to 42-14 at halftime. Ethan Weaver (Brooklyn,
Conn.) recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for the
Warriors for his first career touchdown as well.
Merrimack added 10 second-half points to come away with the
victory to remain unbeaten in league play.
Pierce and Wilson each threw a touchdown pass for the Hawks,
while Bouie led the team with six catches for 78 yards. Bouie led
the Hawks with 143 all-purpose yards. Sophomore Shane O'Donnell
(Dracut, Mass.) had eight tackles for the Hawks to lead
the defense.
Suozzo passed for 264 yards and three touchdowns for Merrimack,
while Abelli had seven catches for 182 yards.
With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the
league, while Merrimack improves to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in
Northeast-10 play. Saint Anselm returns to action at home on
Saturday, October 9th as the Hawks host American International for
a 1 p.m. start at Grappone Stadium.
